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'Current
White House May Be Least Friendly To Religious Concerns In Our History’Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia gave a speech to seminarians
in his archdiocese on March 17 in which he examined the threats to religious
liberty arising around the world—including in the United States. In his
speech, the archbishop said: “The current White House may be the least
friendly to religious concerns in our history.” He also said: “We need
to remember two simple facts. In practice, no law and no constitution can
protect religious freedom unless people actually believe and live their
faith – not just at home or in church, but in their public lives. But it’s
also true that no one can finally take our freedom unless we give it away.”
CNS
NewsVOA VIEW: Obama is an Islamic extremist.

Being
Poor Affects Kids' BrainsChildren raised in poor households have clear differences in the physical
structures of their brains compared to wealthier children, a new study
finds. Brain scans of 1,099 children and teenagers in nine major cities
shows the poorer kids have less surface area of the brain. This is important
because having more brain surface area is linked with intelligence. "Specifically,
among children from the lowest-income families, small differences in income
were associated with relatively large differences in surface area in a
number of regions of the brain associated with skills important for academic
success," said Dr. Kimberly Noble, an assistant professor of pediatrics
and director of the Neurocognition, Early Experience and Development Lab
at Columbia University Medical Center, who helped lead the study published
in the journal Nature Neuroscience. MSNBC

US
Signed Agreement With Mexico To Teach Immigrants To UnionizeThe federal government has signed agreements with three foreign countries
— Mexico, Ecuador and the Philippines — to establish outreach programs
to teach immigrants their rights to engage in labor organizing in the U.S.
The agreements do not distinguish between those who entered legally or
illegally. They are part of a broader effort by the National Labor Relations
Board to get immigrants involved in union activism. The five-member board
is the agency that enforces the National Labor Relations Act, the main
federal law covering unions. In 2013, Lafe Solomon, the board's then-acting
general counsel, signed a "memorandum of understanding" with Mexico's U.S.
ambassador. The current general counsel, Richard Griffin, signed additional
agreements with the ambassadors of Ecuador and the Philippines last year.
Fox
NewsVOA VIEW: Obama is against American workers.

Boom!
The Dow Surged More Than 260 PointsYup, investors have forgotten all that. The market is back in rally
mode. The Dow rose more than 260 points Monday, or 1.5%. The S&P 500
and Nasdaq both rose more than 1% as well. Here are three reasons why it
was something that Susanna Hoffs would call "just another manic Monday."
1. The Fed is going to take things slow. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen
got traders in a festive mood late Friday. In a speech released just 15
minutes before the market closed, Yellen made it painstakingly clear that
she does not think the United States economy is anywhere close to its full
potential. She said that the economy should be "booming" if things were
back to normal and that there was "some way to go" before the labor market
was back to full employment. CNN

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When
Considering 2016 Candidates, The Biggest Litmus Tests For GOP Voters: ISIS
And AbortionRepublican voters appear to be dug in on two very specific issues which
could very well sway their votes when the time comes. “The deal-breakers:
What rules Republican candidates in or out?” asks a new CBS News survey.
“The poll tested a number of policy positions in general terms, asking
Republicans if they would consider voting for a hypothetical candidate
for the party’s nomination who holds a different view on an issue than
they did,” the researchers state. “Among the issues asked about in the
poll, the biggest litmus tests for Republicans are candidate positions
on ISIS - which Republicans overwhelmingly see as a major threat to the
U.S. - and abortion. Washington
Times

The
MIND Diet: 10 Foods That Fight Alzheimer's (And 5 To Avoid)Doctors have been saying for years that what you eat can affect the
health of your heart. Now there's growing evidence that the same is true
for your brain. A new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center
in Chicago shows a diet plan they developed -- appropriately called the
MIND diet -- may reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as
much as 53 percent. Even those who didn't stick to the diet perfectly but
followed it "moderately well" reduced their risk of Alzheimer's by about
a third. CBS

Marco
Rubio To Announce 2016 Presidential Run Decision On April 13Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said today he will announce whether he
will run for president at an upcoming event. “I will announce on April
13 what I’m going to do next in terms of running for president or the U.S.
Senate," Rubio said on FOX News' "The Five." Rubio, a first-term senator,
is up for re-election to the Senate in 2016, but Florida law bars him from
running for both the Senate and the presidency at the same time. If he
chooses to run for president but loses, Rubio said he wouldn't fall back
on a Senate bid as a back-up plan. "When you choose to do something as
big as that, you’ve really got to be focused on that and not have an exit
strategy," Rubio said earlier this year. ABC

Gov.
Deal Signs Bill Making It Easier For Many To Get A HS DiplomaThousands of former high school students who couldn’t pass a state
graduation test that used to be required will find it easier to obtain
diplomas under a bill signed by Gov. Nathan Deal Monday. House Bill 91
retroactively eliminates any tests that are no longer required for students
to graduate from high school, including the Georgia High School Graduation
Test. Passing that multi-part test, established in 1994, was eliminated
as a graduation requirement in 2011. The law allows former students who
failed the tests to petition for a diploma from the local school board
where they were last enrolled, instead of going through a drawn-out waiver
process through the state education board. Deal said it could help thousands
of former students who have been held back by their lack of a diploma.
Atlanta
JounalVOA VIEW: Pitiful - passing without learning.

Hawaii
Supervisor Manipulated Veterans’ Benefit DataA supervisor at the Veterans Administration office in Honolulu was
manipulating data to make it look like the agency was processing veterans’
benefits claims faster it actually was, according to a new report by the
VA Office of Inspector General. The data manipulation happened last year
when there was heightened scrutiny nationwide over how long veterans were
waiting to see doctors. The electronic records altered in Honolulu dealt
with benefits claims, not medical appointments. But the finding underscores
that there are ongoing problems within the system. The Honolulu supervisor
was removing controls in the electronic record that are used to track and
identify the progress of claims. “It made his performance measures for
his team look better than they actually were,” said Brent Arronte, director
of the San Diego Benefits Inspection Division of the VA Office of Inspector
General. Charlotte
Observer

French
Eye Cockpit Entry, Psychological Screening RulesFrench aviation investigators said Tuesday they will examine "systemic
weaknesses" like cockpit entry rules and psychological screening procedures
that could have led to the Germanwings crash, while Lufthansa said its
insurers set aside $300 million to deal with possible fallout from the
disaster. Authorities say co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who in the past had
been treated for suicidal tendencies, locked the captain out of the cockpit
on March 24 before deliberately crashing the Airbus 320 into a mountain
in the French Alps. All 150 people aboard the flight from Barcelona to
Duesseldorf were killed. The French aviation agency known as BEA said it
aims to provide a "detailed analysis" of the Germanwings cockpit voice
recorder information and any other flight data — but it also plans to widen
its search to examine issues that could affect the worldwide aviation industry.
"(We will study) systemic weaknesses (that) might possibly have led to
this aviation disaster," BEA said in its first statement since prosecutors
detailed the co-pilot's suspected role. San
Diego Union

Millennials
Nix Their Parents’ TreasuresA seismic shift of stuff is underway in homes all over America. Members
of the generation that once embraced sex, drugs and rock-and-roll are trying
to offload their place settings for 12, family photo albums and leather
sectionals. Their offspring don’t want them. As baby boomers, born between
1946 and 1964, start cleaning out attics and basements, many are discovering
that millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, are not so interested in
the lifestyle trappings or nostalgic memorabilia they were so lovingly
raised with. Thanks, Mom, but I really can’t use that eight-foot dining
table or your king-size headboard. Whether becoming empty nesters, downsizing
or just finally embracing the decluttering movement, boomers are taking
a good close look at the things they have spent their life collecting.
Auction houses, consignment stores and thrift shops are flooded with merchandise,
much of it made of brown wood. Kansas
City Star

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Pentagon
Chief Sends Military Wish Lists To Congress With ReservationsU.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Monday sent the military's annual
"wish lists" to U.S. lawmakers, including 12 Boeing Co F/A-18 fighter jets
and 14 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets, but said he would not back
any of the requests unless Congress passed a larger overall defense budget.
"Any extra program inserted into our budget submission will come at the
expense of other programs we deemed more important, with ripple effects
across the rest of the budget," Carter said in a letter, a copy of which
was seen by Reuters. Carter told lawmakers he was sending the lists of
"unfunded priorities" to Congress as required under a defense policy law
of fiscal 2013, but registered his concerns about any moves by Congress
to restructure the Pentagon's budget request. Reuters

Boehner
Visits Jordan In First Stop Of Mideast TourHouse Speaker John Boehner began a Holy Land victory tour Monday, with
plans to meet this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Boehner’s trip comes just weeks after Netanyahu scored a surprise electoral
victory in Israel’s elections — an achievement that came shortly after
he attacked the US administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran at a
joint session of Congress. Boehner visited Jordan with eight other Republican
House members on the first stop of his tour Monday. He met with King Abdullah
for lunch at the Beit al-Urdun Palace, with plans to head to Jerusalem
later. NY
Post

The
2 States Obama Hasn't VisitedHe's visited steel mills in Indiana and movie studios in California;
an oil spill in in Louisiana and a landslide in Washington State; military
bases from New Jersey to Texas; even Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
When President Barack Obama speaks at the Hill Air Force Base in Utah on
Friday, he'll have traveled to 49 states as president, nearly reaching
his goal of stopping in every single one during his eight years in office.
After this week, South Dakota will remain the only state unvisited by the
commander-in-chief — though Obama's aides say he's gunning to reach all
50 by the end of his term. CNN

Ex-Intelligence
Chief: U.S. Displaying 'Willful Ignorance' Regarding Middle EastRetired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, the former director of the Defense
Intelligence Agency under President Obama, says there is "incredible policy
confusion" in Washington regarding the Middle East, where the United States
sides with Saudi Arabia and Sunni Muslims in some cases, but then sides
with Iran and the Shi'ites in other cases -- all while trying to strike
a nuclear deal with Iran, a country he said can't be trusted. "So, let
me just start by saying as an intelligence officer, intelligence has to
be part of the calculus of every strategic level of decision. And, right
now, I don't -- my sense of where the policy is at is sort of, and I hate
to say it like this, but it's almost a policy of willful ignorance," Flynn
told "Fox News Sunday." ReutersVOA VIEW: Obama own are against his traitorous
madness.

Seattle
Clarifies Fine Points Of New Minimum-Wage LawJust days before Wednesday’s start of Seattle’s new minimum-wage law,
the city Friday issued final rules designed to clarify questions such as
how much to pay minors, how to determine what temp workers should make
and whether service charges count as tips. Minors younger than age 16,
say the final rules, should be paid at least 85 percent of the minimum
wage. For temp workers and others working at staffing agencies that contract
with outside employers, whichever employer is larger — either the staffing
agency or the outside employer — determines how much the employee will
be paid. For instance, if a staffing agency with 100 employees contracts
to provide workers for a large business with more than 500 employees, then
the temp worker must be paid according to what a large employer would pay.
Seattle
Times

Pharmacists:
We Want Out Of Execution BizA leading association for U.S. pharmacists adopted a policy that discourages
its members from providing drugs for use in lethal injections - a move
that could make carrying out executions even harder for death penalty states.
The declaration approved by American Pharmacists Association delegates
at a meeting in San Diego yesterday says the practice of providing lethal-injection
drugs is contrary to the role of pharmacists as health-care providers.
The association lacks legal authority to bar its members from selling execution
drugs, but its policies set pharmacists' ethical standards. Pharmacists
now join doctors and anesthesiologists in having national associations
with ethics codes that restrict credentialed members from participating
in executions. Philadelphia
Inquirer

Democrat
Calls To Remove Commerce Bigwig From OfficeThe guy who botched an investigation of the Census Bureau last year
could soon be without a job. Todd Zinser, the inspector general of the
US Commerce Department, is again coming under attack from Congress. Last
Thursday. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas), the ranking Democrat on the
House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, blasted Zinser during
comments on the floor of Congress. The Commerce Department oversees the
Census Bureau, so Zinser is the chief enforcement officer for an important
segment of the government economic bureaucracy. Johnson this week will
ask President Obama to remove Zinser from office because of a pattern of
alleged misconduct, including retaliation against whistle-blowers and the
hiring of someone suspected of being his girlfriend. NY
Post

US
Leads Pledges With $507 Million At Syria Donor ConferenceThe United States pledged $507 million in humanitarian aid at an international
donors' conference for Syria on Tuesday as the United Nations issued an
appeal for $8.4 billion in commitments this year — the organizations largest
appeal yet for the war-ravaged country. Earlier, Kuwait, which is hosting
the third annual conference, pledged $500 million. In his opening remarks,
Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah said the Syrian conflict is the "biggest
humanitarian crisis in recent history."
The civil war, now in its fifth year, has killed at least 220,000 people
and displaced 11 million, according to U.N. figures. Of the displaced,
nearly 4 million have been forced to flee to nearby countries such as Lebanon,
Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, stretching resources there to the limit.
SF
Gate

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Germanwings
Flight 9525 Co-Pilot Was Treated For 'Suicidal Tendencies'The co-pilot believed to have intentionally crashed a plane into the
French Alps last week, killing all 150 aboard, had been treated for "suicidal
tendencies," German prosecutors said Monday. Andreas Lubitz, the 27-year-old
co-pilot who investigators say locked the Germanwings Flight 9525 pilot
out of the cockpit and crashed the Airbus A320 last Tuesday, received psychotherapy
"with a note about suicidal tendencies" for several years before becoming
a pilot, according to Ralf Herrenbrueck, spokesman for prosecutors in Dusseldorf.
Still, Herrenbrueck said no motive has emerged to explain the act, and
said Lubitz showed no sign of a physical illness. Fox

NCAA
'Deeply Concerned' Over Indiana Religious Freedom LawDays before the Final Four tips off in Indianapolis, the head of the
NCAA told NBC News on Monday that he is "deeply concerned" about an Indiana
law that opponents say could be used to justify anti-gay discrimination.
"Our core values are built around notions of diversity and inclusion,"
NCAA President Mark Emmert said. "And anything that might create an environment
within which we can't maximize those values is something that we take very,
very seriously." The law, signed last week by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence,
says that the state cannot "substantially burden a person's exercise of
religion" unless it is furthering a "compelling government interest" and
acting in the least restrictive way possible. MSNBC

Pentagon
Peril: Private Sector Jobs, Unfit Civilians Threaten U.S. Military RecruitingDefense Secretary Ashton B. Carter announced Monday that the military
will have to do more to recruit the best of the next generation, including
helping to pay off student loans, improving transition assistance and expanding
programs that offer a mid-career break. Mr. Carter, speaking at his old
high school outside Philadelphia, said the Defense Department had a huge
influx in the all-volunteer force as Americans joined up in the wake of
the 9/11 attacks. As those people leave the military, he said the department
will have to adjust to remain attractive to younger generations. Washington
Times

Hillary
Clinton: Return U.S.-Israel Relations To Constructive FootingFormer Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the head of a group
representing major American Jewish organizations that the U.S. relationship
with Israel needed to be returned to a more "constructive footing." "Secretary
Clinton thinks we need to all work together to return the special U.S.-Israel
relationship to constructive footing, to get back to basic shared concerns
and interests, including a two-state solution pursued through direct negotiations
between Israelis and Palestinians," Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice
chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations,
said in a statement Sunday evening. She also said that Israel should not
be allowed to become a partisan issue. CBS

Millions
Of Americans Have Little To No Money SavedMillions of Americans have no savings set aside for a rainy day, leaving
them in serious jeopardy if financial calamity strikes, according to two
new studies released this week. Roughly a third of American adults don't
have any emergency savings, meaning that over 72 million people have no
cushion to fall back on if they lose a job or have to deal with another
crisis, according to a survey released today by NeighborWorks America,
a national non-profit that supports communities. Among the 1,035 adults
who took part in the poll, 34% had no money set aside for an emergency,
while 47% said their savings would cover their living expenses for 90 days
or less. USA
TodayVOA VIEW: Very bad economic state of affair.

Link
Found Between Children With Paralysis And 'More Polio-Like' Strain Of Enterovirus
D68, Study SaysAccording to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit advocacy
organization, these fruits and vegetables contain the highest levels of
pesticides. The organization did not participate in a new Harvard University
study of pesticides and male reproductive function. (EWG) Consumption of
fruits and vegetables that contain relatively large amounts of pesticide
residue may affect men's sperm counts and the number of normal-looking
sperm they produce, a potential factor in fertility problems, Harvard University
researchers reported on Monday. Washington
Post

Access
Denied: Reporters Say Federal Officials, Data Increasingly Off LimitsStacey Singer, a health reporter for the Palm Beach Post in Florida,
was perusing a medical journal in 2012 when she came across something startling:
a federal epidemiologist’s report about a tuberculosis outbreak in the
Jacksonville area. Singer promptly began pursuing the story. But when she
started seeking official comment about the little-reported outbreak, the
doors began closing. County health officials referred her to the state
health department. State officials referred her to the federal Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Even though the CDC’s own expert had
written the investigative report, the agency’s press office declined to
let Singer speak with him. A spokesman told her it was a local matter and
sent her back to the state office in Tallahassee. Through public records
requests, Singer eventually was able to piece together the story of a contagion
that had caused 13 deaths and 99 illnesses — the worst the CDC had found
in 20 years. Washington
Post

U.S.
News Ranks 2016 Best Business SchoolsOf the hundreds of college programs across the nation, only certain
schools rank in the top tier. U.S. News and World Report recently released
its list of Best Business schools for the upcoming school year. More than
120 schools were listed, many of them tied for their spot on the ranking.
Several Texas schools made the list, including the usual suspects, University
of Texas and Rice University. Houston
Chronicle

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Yawning,
Whistling Might Get You Flagged At Airport SecurityExcessive yawning, whistling and too much laughter could possibly find
you detained by airport security agents for further questioning, according
to a recently released list. The SPOT Referral Report, which stands for
"Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques," was obtained a week
ago by The Intercept, which claims the unclassified report is a "closely
held" Transportation Security Administration (TSA) document detailing what
Behavior Detection Officers look for when observing suspicious travelers
and possible terrorists at the nation's airports. Actions appearing on
the 92-point checklist featured on The Intercept were divided into categories
such as "stress factors," "fear factors" and "signs of deception," and
ranged from "appears to be in disguise" and "face pale from recent shaving
of beard" to "excessive yawning," "excessive throat clearing" and "gazing
down." ABC

US
Admiral Says China 'Creating A Great Wall Of Sand' In SeaChina is "creating a great wall of sand" through land reclamation in
the South China Sea, causing serious concerns about its territorial intentions,
the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Tuesday. Admiral Harry Harris
Jr. told a naval conference in Australia that competing territorial claims
by several nations in the South China Sea are "increasing regional tensions
and the potential for miscalculation." "But what's really drawing a lot
of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently
being conducted by China," he said. "China is building artificial land
by pumping sand on to live coral reefs — some of them submerged — and paving
over them with concrete. China has now created over 4 square kilometers
(1.5 square miles) of artificial landmass," he said. Tampa
Tribune

WSU
Study: ‘Exploding Head Syndrome’ More Common Than Once ThoughtNearly one in five college students may suffer from “exploding head
syndrome,” a psychological condition in which people are abruptly awakened
from sleep by imaginary loud noises or blasts. That’s according to Washington
State University researchers who have conducted the largest study yet of
the sleep disorder, previously believed to be rare. If you’ve never heard
of “exploding head syndrome,” or EHS, don’t worry. Neither have most doctors,
said Brian Sharpless, the WSU assistant professor of psychology who led
the study published recently in the Journal of Sleep Research. “You’re
going to sleep and become relaxed. Then, all of a sudden, you hear an extremely
loud noise, or gunshots, or the sound of extremely large guitar strings
breaking,” said Sharpless, who is also director of the university’s psychology
clinic. “Some people feel like there’s an explosion inside their heads.”
Seattle
Times

With
Or Without Iran Deal, Obama Faces Fight With CongressIf the negotiations with Iran now in their final hours in Switzerland
produce the framework of a deal, President Barack Obama will face a leviathan
task of selling it to a skeptical Congress. If they fail to produce anything
by a self-imposed March 31 deadline, he’ll confront an equally daunting
challenge of holding off congressional moves to impose new sanctions on
Iran while he tries to buy more time for negotiations. In either case,
Obama will have to make the case for what would be a crowning foreign policy
achievement to a public that distrusts Iran’s regime, yet doesn’t want
an unresolved nuclear crisis to spark a nuclear arms race, or even a war,
in the Middle East. BloombergVOA VIEW: Obama is stirring major turmoil
in the middle east.

U.S.
Consumers Are Saving At Highest Rate Since 2012A booming job market and cheaper fill-ups at the gas pump should be
giving millions of Americans more reasons to spend. Instead, they're salting
away the extra savings. The saving rate jumped in February to 5.8 percent,
the highest since December 2012 and up from 4.4 percent just three months
earlier, government data showed Monday. The equation is simple: Incomes,
boosted last month by a surge in dividends, grew faster than purchases.
Bloomberg

U.S.
Forces To Train Ukraine National Guard In Late April- The U.S. Army will begin training Ukraine's National Guard units
on April 20, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced. "American
commandos, numbering 290, will come to Yavoriv training ground, Lviv region,
on April 20. This is where a long-term military exercise of 173rd Airborne
Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army and combat units of the National Guard
will be held," Avakov said Sunday on Facebook. Yavoriv, near the border
with Poland, is the site of the International Peacekeeping and Security
Center. UPI

U.S.
And Cuba To Face Off On Human Rights In Tuesday Washington MeetingThe latest round in the U.S.-Cuba rapprochement gets under way Tuesday
when the two countries meet in Washington to discuss the potentially divisive
issue of human rights. A State Department spokesperson said the two sides
will “discuss the methodology and structure of future human rights talks,”
so no major developments are expected. But even getting agreement on the
substance for future talks could prove difficult because the two countries
have strikingly different views on what constitutes respect for human rights.
Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
Tom Malinowski will lead the U.S. delegation. Cuba, which announced the
meeting last Thursday — a day before the United States — didn’t specify
who would be heading its delegation. Miami
Herald

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Jailed
Ex-New Orleans Mayor Gets More Time For Appeal BriefsFederal public defenders have been granted more time to work on the
appeal for former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who is serving a 10-year
sentence for corruption. Briefs in Nagin's appeal had been due Monday,
but the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals pushed back the deadline to April
9. The Federal Public Defender's office sought a delay. The office noted
that its lawyers had not represented Nagin in his 2014 trial and were having
to prepare an appeal in a complex case with limited access to Nagin by
mail and telephone. Federal prosecutors did not object to the delay, which
was granted last week. Public defenders were appointed to the case last
year after Nagin's previous attorney, Robert Jenkins, said the former mayor
was unable to pay him. Las
Vegas Sun

North
Korea Developing Ballistic Missile Capable Of Reaching U.S.North Korea has taken additional steps in developing a long-range ballistic
missile that could target the United States, National Intelligence Director
James Clapper said. Clapper addressed Congress last week with the latest
findings on North Korea's advancements in deploying a long-range, intercontinental
ballistic missile, or ICBM, known as the KN-08. The missile, said Clapper,
is capable of reaching the United States. But because of its long range
the KN-08 is not capable of attacking South Korea. UPI

Carter
Says US Policy On Iran-Backed Forces Will HoldDefense Secretary Ash Carter says that when Iraqi security forces carry
their counteroffensive beyond the current battle for Tikrit, the U.S. will
continue to insist that Iranian-backed Shiite militias not participate.
In remarks Monday at Fort Drum, New York, Carter said the coalition must
ensure it is working only with forces under Iraqi government control as
Iraqi ground troops seek to retake territory held by the Islamic State
group. The U.S. last week began to provide Iraqi forces with intelligence
from U.S. aerial surveillance and to launch airstrikes in support of the
battle for Tikrit. It did so on condition that the Iranian-backed Shiite
militias not participate. Las
Vegas Sun

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PLO
Member Accuses Israel Of War Crimes Over Har HomaPLO Executive Committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi accused Israel of
war crimes after the Jerusalem Municipality issued a construction permit
for 143 apartment units in the Jewish neighborhood of Har Homa located
over the pre-1967 lines on Monday. “This latest development is an additional
war crime as stipulated by the Rome Statute, and the occupation authorities
will be held accountable by the International Criminal Court and other
venues for its continued aggression on the lands and resources of the state
of Palestine,” Ashrawi said. According to Hagit Ofran of Peace Now, the
construction permit was a technicality for a project that was marketed
by the city years ago. She explained that a private contractor needed the
permit for work that had already been authorized. The municipality made
no comment. Jerusalem
Post

Netanyahu
Blasts Emerging Nuclear Deal As 'A Reward For Iran's Aggression'As Iran and world powers face less than two days to reach a framework
nuclear deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday again attacked
the emerging agreement, saying it would serve as "a reward for Iran's aggression."
Netanayhu, who has maintained a staunch stance against a nuclear Iran,
warned that Israel among other "moderate and responsible" states in the
Middle East would be the first to be affected by a deal that emerges from
the current ongoing negotiation in Switzerland.
"The deal emerging in Lausanne [Switzerland] sends a message that there
is no cost for aggression, and in turn, that there is a reward for Iran's
aggression," the premier lamented. Jerusalem
Post

G20 World Leaders'
Data Emailed To Football OrganisersThe passport numbers and visa details of 31 world leaders were accidentally
emailed to the organisers of the Asian Cup in Australia before the G20
summit in Brisbane in November 2014. Those affected included US President
Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. A worker at the Australian
Department of Immigration sent the list by mistake. The department decided
there was no need to alert the G20 attendees. "Given that the risks of
the breach are considered very low and the actions that have been taken
to limit the further distribution of the email, I do not consider it necessary
to notify the clients of the breach," an unnamed Department of Immigration
director wrote to the Australian Privacy Commissioner in an email obtained
by the Guardian following a Freedom of Information request. BBC

Obama's
Going To Kenya – And Some Republicans Detect A Hidden AgendaRepublican senator Mitch McConnell warned Barack Obama a few months
ago that acting on immigration reform would be “like waving a red flag
in front of a bull”. Everybody believed him, because Republicans were fresh
off a debt-reduction strategy nicknamed: “Hand it over – or the economy
gets it”. Now, a prominent Republican is second-guessing what may be Obama’s
boldest provocation yet: visiting Kenya. The White House announced on Monday
that Obama would attend the 2015 global entrepreneurship summit that will
take place in July in Kenya. It will be his first trip to Kenya as president.
An official announcement with the anodyne title “Reinforcing the US-Africa
partnership” trotted out various government-related excuses for why Obama,
whose father was Kenyan, would make the trip. Guardian

Louisiana
Death Row Case Confounds US Supreme Court Over Mental DisabilityThe US supreme court heard arguments about the fate and mental condition
of death row inmate Kevan Brumfield on Monday, in a case that asks the
nine justices to decide whether a man deemed disabled by one court can
be killed out of deference to the decision of another. But the justices
struggled even to determine the facts of what happened in a murder trial
20 years ago, frequently interrupting lawyers and losing patience with
both sides’ inability to present a clear account of how Louisiana reviews
mental disability. Justice Antonin Scalia confessed he had not read the
massive, 20-volume record of the case in its entirety, and doubted any
of his colleagues would manage it either. Guardian

Republicans
See Barack Obama As More Imminent Threat Than Vladimir PutinA third of Republicans believe Barack Obama poses an imminent threat
to the United States, outranking concerns about Vladimir Putin, the Russian
president, and Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. A Reuters/Ipsos online
poll this month asked 2,809 Americans to rate how much of a threat a list
of countries, organisations and individuals posed to the United States
on a scale of 1 to 5, with one being no threat and 5 being an imminent
threat. The poll showed 34 per cent of Republicans ranked Mr Obama as an
imminent threat, ahead of Mr Putin (25 per cent), who has been accused
of aggression in the Ukraine, and Mr Assad (23 per cent). Western governments
have alleged that the Syrian president used chlorine gas and barrel bombs
on his own citizens. TelegraphVOA VIEW: Obama is the biggest threat
to the United States since its Declaration of Independence.

Boko
Haram ‘Weakened’ But Still Committing ‘Horrendous’ Acts, Says UN Regional
EnvoyAs the Security Council met this morning to discuss threats to international
peace and security caused by terrorism, top United Nations officials briefed
the 15-member body on the impact of Boko Haram in Nigeria and beyond, warning
of the group’s intensified violence and brutality. “Though weakened, the
group continues to commit horrendous acts against civilians, including
against women and children,” said Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the Special Representative
of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA).
“Boko Haram’s recent allegiance to the Islamic State for Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL), whether for publicity reasons or to tap into ISIL’s support, is
also of concern as it is gives a clear signal that Boko Haram’s agenda
goes well beyond Nigeria.” UN
New

In
Iraq, UN Chief Pledges Support As Government Tackles Ongoing Threat From
ISILDespite recent military gains against the Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant (ISIL), “vast challenges” remain ahead as the Government of
Iraq fights to consolidate its territorial integrity against the terrorist
threat, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today during
an unannounced visit to Baghdad. “We will continue to do all we can to
assist the people and Government of Iraq to end this crisis so that they
may focus their energy and resources on building a more peaceful, stable,
democratic and prosperous future for all Iraqis,” Mr. Ban told reporters
in the Iraqi capital. UN
News

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